Plan of Examination/UPSC Exam Pattern
- The Civil Services Examination comprises of two successive stages:
- Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination for the selection of candidates for Civil Services (Main) Examination.
- Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written and Interview/Personality Test) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts.
Preliminary Examination(Prelims)
- Prelims consists of two papers of Objective type(200 marks each).
- Two papers are General Studies Paper I and General Studies Paper-II(CSAT).
- GS Paper-II (also known as CSAT i.e. Civil Service Aptitude Test) is of qualifying in nature and in which a candidate has to secure 33% marks only.
- Prelims is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Prelims by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.
Civil Services (Main) Examination
- The Civil Services (Main) Examination will consist of a Written Examination and an Interview/Personality Test.
- The Written Examination will consist of 9 papers of conventional essay type out of which two papers will be of qualifying in nature.
- Marks obtained for all the compulsory papers (Paper-I to Paper-VII) and Marks obtained in Interview/Personality Test will be counted for ranking.
- The number of candidates to be admitted to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this Examination.
Interview/Personality Test
- The Interview/Personality Test will carry 275 marks (with no minimum qualifying marks).
- Candidates who obtain such minimum qualifying marks in the written part of the Civil Services (Main) Examination as fixed by the Commission at their discretion, shall be summoned by them for an Interview/Personality Test.
- The number of candidates to be summoned for the Interview/Personality Test will be about twice of the number of vacancies to be filled.
Final Ranking
- Marks obtained by the candidates in the Civil Services (Main) Examination (Written part as well as Interview/Personality Test) would determine the final ranking.
- Candidates will be allotted to the various Services keeping in view their ranks in the examination and the preferences expressed by them for the various Services and posts.
| Paper Name | Time Duration | Total Marks | Nature of Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
Paper A – Compulsory Indian Language Paper | 3 hours | 300 | Qualifying in nature |
Paper B – English Language Paper | 3 hours | 300 | Qualifying in nature |
Paper-I Essay | 3 hours | 300 | Considered for Merit |
Paper-II General Studies I | 3 hours | 300 | Considered for Merit |
Paper-III General Studied II | 3 hours | 300 | Considered for Merit |
Paper-IV General Studies III | 3 hours | 300 | Considered for Merit |
Paper-V General Studies IV | 3 hours | 300 | Considered for Merit |
Paper-VI Optional Paper I | 3 hours | 300 | Considered for Merit |
Paper-VII Optional Paper II | 3 hours | 300 | Considered for Merit |
Total | 1750 | ||
Interview/ Personality Test | 275 | ||
Grand Total | 2025 |
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